Boy Sticks Gum On $1.5 Million Painting At Museum

WFTV-NEWS ^ | 2-28-2006

[Little Ray]

Forget I said that. How are they going to tell the stain from the painting?

[SuziQ]

I've always liked Slob Art.

Yeah, someday I want a patio with some pink flamingos, preferably the kind that have the tiny lights. ;o)

[AmericaUnited]

Chewed gum on plywood art.

That seems very tacky....

[IncPen]

Do recall that Picasso was a very talented artist at the turn of the 19th century, an up and coming realist.

Marxism was on the rise in Europe, and his contemporaries pointed out to him that they'd make a better living if they all sold 'abstract art' to the elites. The 'elites' did not want to be accused of being 'anti-intellectual', and the idea of relativism folded in nicely with the Marxist way of thinking.

Abstract art is crap, and has more to do with equivocation than truth.

[CzarNicky]

yeah and I looked at the painting I'm still trying to figure out how they noticed.

[RJL]

Obviously he was just trying to add a little texture and depth to an otherwise pointless and boring canvas.

[linda_22003]

Right - it just means you don't happen to like it.

[Cagey]

someday I want a patio with some pink flamingos, preferably the kind that have the tiny lights. ;o)

Now you're talking!

[mslee]

After reading about the painter and painting, I can understand why the kid decided to make a "statement". "In the early 1950s, Frankenthaler, began pouring paint directly on an unprimed canvas, resulting in overlapping pools of saturated color. When the painters Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis picked up on Frankenthaler's staining technique, it codified the color-field style that dominated American abstract art in the 1960s. Completed in 1963, "The Bay" is a landmark Frankenthaler because it was her first stained picture done with acrylic paint, a new medium at the time. In "The Bay" -- a large picture dominated by sea of blue against horizontal fields of green, gray and cream -- you can feel the artist's growing confidence and control."

[just me]

They have a rule. No gum in the museum anywhere.

[cubreporter]

you are missing the point. I don't guess you would think the way you are if it had been something that belonged to you. Even if it was something stupid or ugly it would have been YOURS and not someone else's to destroy.

[cubreporter]

ooops. Thought you were serious.

[AnalogReigns]

This whole thing seems pretty silly. I agree a market price of 1.5 million for such an abstract painting mystifies me, but that's the way it is. I don't understand why a Ferrari costs $250,000+ either, but, if I was in an accident and wrecked one, hey, I and my insurance company would be responsible to fix it(or (gasp) replace it...if totalled).

As far as fairness is concerned whether the art is a Rembrandt or a wacky modern artist, the kid's parents owe the gallery whatever it takes to restore the painting to original condition. At age 12, their brat knew what he was doing.

We don't give people permission to damage something owned by others, just because it's not their taste.

[Semi Civil Servant]

I've got an old painting drop cloth that looks like this painting. Perhaps I should contact the museum.

Another conman/"artist" by the name of Jackson Pollock already beat that scam to death. He sold a bunch of drop cloths he called paintings.

[Humbug]

I have to say, this piece is quite inspiring. I never thought i had any artistic talent and therefore long ago put away my crayons in despair but now i realize it doesn't take talent to make big bucks in the art world. Come to think of it, i imagine i probably have some kindergarten work that very much resembles this.

I mean honestly, this type of "art" is something i'd expect to see hanging up in some 2nd grade classroom and even then i doubt it'd be voted the best picture of the class.

[auntyfemenist]

On second thought, maybe it wasn't that bad a crime. At least not as much as that painting being worth that much money.

[auntyfemenist]

That is just nasty. Chewed gum art. Yuck.

[beaver fever]

"Marxism was on the rise in Europe, and his contemporaries pointed out to him that they'd make a better living if they all sold 'abstract art' to the elites. The 'elites' did not want to be accused of being 'anti-intellectual', and the idea of relativism folded in nicely with the Marxist way of thinking."

You'ld better brush up on your art history because not a word of that is true.

[Republicanprofessor]

Art ping.

Let Sam Cree, Woofie or me know if you want on or off the art ping list.

[IncPen]

You'ld better brush up on your art history because not a word of that is true.

Yawn.